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Sorry, but my searches only turned up sumac heads, which I will try. What else do you you use that stays lit long enough to do the job? I've had reasonable luck with dry pulped softwood, but hard to come by. Can't seem to get wood pellets going, and KEEP them going, though they seem to be the way to go. Thanks

The BEST is burlap. I used to get it free as feed sacks for my chickens, although I had to buy 100 lb sacks. Now I have to buy it. I also supplement it with whatever is handy. Pine needles, dry grass, leaves. Tobacco, as bad as it smells, seems to work well as an additive also.

I have a lot of baling twine around and have never tried that. I will have to try that this year.

I use pine needles with the occational pine cone, twig, or summac head mixed in. Becareful with some burlap as some is treated to prevent it rotting in the soil. Even some bailing twine is treated too. Just need to be careful.

I think the baling twine is all treated against rot. The burlap I've had is not. You can smell the treating. I have seen burlap that was treated. I haven't used it. You can buy burlp by the yard at the fabric store.

I use to burn anything I could get my hands on, until one day I was working with another beekeeper & he was using smoker fuel from mann lake(cat#hd-550).It is easy to lite & burns a long time,You cam break it into small pieces if you don't need smoke for very long,I got a pound of it last year & still have some left,It produces a cool smoke also.It's not but $1.60 a pound & like I said it goes a long way,,,,, Mark

I bought the Mann Lake fuel too, and it works great. However it is just compressed cotton seed hulls. You can buy it locally as a mulch for about five dollars for a fifty pound bag at some of the Marts or Co-ops or garden centers.
Bill

Many years ago, out of the blue, my grandmother recalled that my grandfather had always used sumac for smoker fuel. I tried it and thats all I use. Pick it in the fall. The last bushel basket I picked will be on its third year. Its a very mild smoke, the bees dont mind it and it smells kinda good to me. A friend tells me his wifes mother smokes it in a pipe! (she's a native american).

Speaking of things you can smoke in your pipe, I bet a lot of things that we smoke in pipes would work. Mullien (Verbascum thapsus) is that fuzzy stuff some call velvet leaf. It burns nicely and is good treatment for asthma. (It's a bronco dilator). The dried shaved inner bark from red osier dogwood (Cornus Sericea, Cornus Sanguenia, Cornus Stolonifera minx and other varieties). Sumac (Rhus Coriaria or Rhus Typhina) (already mentioned). Sage (the American varieties which are actually not sage but Artemisia) Sweet grass (Hierochloe Odorata), Peppermint (Mentha Piperita), Cedar needles (Juniper or Thuja).

I love denim for my fuel. I have used it and it burns for a looooong time and is very cool. I also like sumac. I store my denim scraps in a bag and put in a drop or two of peppermint or lemongrass oil and it gives a hint of it when smoking.

I use pine wood shavings from my workshop and roll them up in newspaper, like a big cigarette. I only have two hives to go through and after that the smoker stays smoking for about 4 hours, sometimes longer if I roll it up real tight.

Mark,
No particular name, just cotton seed hulls. Used as a mulch, but watch out, lots of seeds, and they will germinate... As a matter of fact I grew cotton here back in the eighties. Now I see it grown here commercially, immagine that, cotton grown here in Kansas.
Did I see someone mention cotton as a honey plant?
Bill

Hi Mark,
I know about the cotton. Being from the southeast, cotton has been a main grown item here, and I have many fields around my house and bees. It makes a great honey, a little thick and dark, but a great robust taste. Here's one though that most don't know about.
Tobacco.. It makes a great dark and rich honey. I have a field behind my house that is grown in tobacco each year and I have people that purchase my honey say that it has the best flavor..
Another that comes to mind is the bloom from the Poison Ivey plant.
My bee's almost look like a swarm when it blooms.

Sorry, but my searches only turned up sumac heads, which I will try. What else do you you use that stays lit long enough to do the job? I've had reasonable luck with dry pulped softwood, but hard to come by. Can't seem to get wood pellets going, and KEEP them going, though they seem to be the way to go. Thanks

To make any smoker work at its best for a long time try Building a small fire in it working up to 1/2 inch twigs. After letting this burn for 5 minutes add your prefered smoker fuel. Mine lasts for over 8 hours. Or longer if I add more fuel!
Clint